By Her Side
by ARMV7
Summary: Everyone needs a shoulder to lean on every once-in-a-while, and for Yang Xiao Long, that someone was Weiss Schnee. Warning: Character Death. Please Review!


**A/N There hasn't been one of these in a while, so I thought I'd be the idiot to write it. Also wrote this because I've been having some Freezerburn feels as of late.**

**Enjoy?**

_'Routine: a customary or regular course of procedure.'_

_'Mission: any important task or duty that is assigned, allotted, or self-imposed.'_

_'Complete: having all parts or elements; lacking nothing; whole; entire; full.'_

Routine, mission, complete? These words were far from the truth of what had befallen them that fateful day.

It wasn't routine; it was out-of-the-blue.

It wasn't a mission; it was a trap.

It wasn't complete; it was _lacking..._

A mission gone completely and insanely wrong, it had been devastating for all of them, but for none more so than the sister of the victim. Her convoluted mind rewound to traumatic events which transpired almost a month ago...

_**######**_

It'd been a long and tireless road, but the members of team RWBY were nearing the end of their respective investigation into Roman Torchwick and his dealings with the White-Fang, they had a name;

Cinder Fall.

The mastermind behind it all, the robberies, the murders, the gunfights...

They had an address, a small abandoned warehouse much like the one where this had all began in the first place.

Red-flag number one.

With the criteria met, team RWBY had set out, their mission? To finally put an end to it all. They were riding high, a feeling of invulnerability washed over all four of them.

Red-flag number two.

They had reached the warehouse just before midnight, the shattered moon shined high and bright in the center of the black, starless sky.

They had entered, not knowing of what was about to befall them.

A trap.

Inside the dark quiet building, a feeling of nostalgia had come over them.

Suddenly the room was bathed in a bright white flash, the lights had turned on, and they had walked right into an ambush.

At least one hundred plus, White-Fang members had surrounded them, each of them drawing swords, combat axes, handguns, and assault rifles.

"Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao Long." One of them called out. Another stepped forward and raised his rifle to Yang's head.

"You are now under the control of the White-Fang, disarm yourselves immediately or face the consequences." He ordered.

Yang smirked slightly at the feeling of cold metal brushing against the back of her neck.

"What if we don't?"

"You wanna act smart Blondie?" Another member called out as he stepped forward.

Winking to Weiss, the green light was given. Using a glyph she propelled up into the air, the guard pointing his gun at Yang took his attention away from her for only a second, and that's all Yang needed.

As Weiss came back down, she cast an ice spell and coated all nearby White-fang members in a thick layer of glacial grade ice.

That's when all hell broke loose.

It was a four versus one hundred fight, but at least for now, the odds had been in their favor.

Ruby activated Crescent Rose, angling the scythe in its reverse mode, she fired a high caliber round and propelled herself forward. She flew at Mach speed as the scythe was dragged along behind her, taking any unsuspecting criminal with it.

Weiss dashed forward, casting an inverse dust spell, it pulled any enemies nearby, towards it, leaving them wide open for her swift and graceful swings of none other than Myrtenaster.

As soon as the ice was cast in the beginning; Blake disappeared, leaving a shadow-clone in her wake. Reappearing just outside the circle of enemies, Blake unsheathed Gambol Shroud and lashed out in a fury of attacks, jumping from one enemy to the next, slashing, shooting, swinging were all a part of her fighting style.

Yang cocked back both Ember and Celica, aiming behind her she took an approach much like her sister, using propulsion to throw them off. Upon slowing down; Yang began her attack, blades were swung at her, but picking them off had been child's play. Yang smiled all the way, firing shell after shell into the members of the dangerous terrorist group.

For the team, it was easy work mopping up the White-fang, their numbers dwindled from 100 to 50 and now was standing at a mere 20 soldiers. All they had to do was finish them off, and make their way to the woman by the name of Cinder Fall.

But an unexpected interruption had put a wrench in their plan; now standing above them, suspended by the warehouse catwalk was none other than Roman Torchwick, accompanied by 'the kids' as he liked to call them; Mercury and Emerald. That wasn't all though, behind the trio a bright orange light was shining, with every second that went by, it grew in strength until a shadowed figure stepped in front.

Team RWBY could clearly make out the feminine posture and bright glowing eyes of _Cinder Fall._

With an affirmative nod, Cinder along with her three accomplices, unbound themselves from the catwalk and joined the fight on the cool concrete floor.

For now team RWBY's luck held out, they were able to finish the remaining White-fang members, and could solely take aim at team CRME.

Just like before they had split off, Yang engaged Mercury, Blake sought-after Roman, Weiss took aim at Emerald, and Ruby launched herself at Cinder.

Red-flag number _three._

Limbs clashed as Yang fought off vicious attacks from the heel of Mercury's boots, which were designed much like her gauntlets, it was an even match, but Yang had a clear advantage over the silver haired boy.

Yang liked to burn.

Activating her semblance, Yang charged forward in a scorching blaze, her hair igniting as she brought her fist back and loaded a shell into the chamber of Ember, in a flash her fist made contact with Mercury's chest, it all happened so fast; Mercury wasn't able to bring his aura up. Taking the full force of the blow, Mercury was sent flying back into several large shipping containers. He hit them at such a speed that his body dented the side in.

Yang gave a small and boastful 'whoop' at the sight. Looking back to her teammates she could tell they were faring just as well as she did.

All except one.

Ruby was having trouble fending off the spells of fire at the hands of Cinder Fall, every attack she attempted was immediately blocked, almost as if Cinder was one step ahead of her each time. Up to this point Ruby had not yet landed a single hit on Cinder, but she had taken several already, her clothes were slightly singed, the blade of Crescent Rose was going dull, and her aura was reaching moderate levels.

Yang noticed the losing battle between the two, she looked to Weiss and smiled as she delivered another painful blow to Emerald's body, Blake looked like her situation was under control, so without a second thought Yang rushed over to her sister's aid.

Reaching the other side of the warehouse in no time; Yang took the rights to the fight.

"Oh look the little girl's getting help from big sis, isn't that sweet." Cinder mocked.

"Shut up and fight." Yang snarled.

And so they did, fire met fire as the two clashed, Cinder was slightly taken back at the sheer tenacity and power Yang had bestowed to her.

The fight was a complete even match, both were able to give and take hits like it was nothing, both could keep their cool and not buckle under the pressure.

After a lightning fast reload, Yang shot towards Cinder, her speed was too much and Yang was able to deal a hard hitting blow right to Cinder's stomach. The woman was sent back so hard, the wall she collided with Crack under the force of her body, small concrete shards hitting the floor. Wasting no time Yang shot forward once more, except this time she was accompanied by her sister Ruby.

Being a person of speed; Ruby was able to reach the still-recovering Cinder first, and successfully landed a slash with her scythe. As soon as the blade made contact a white flash filled the room, effectively blinding anyone near-by. When the flash died down, and Ruby's eyes readjusted, her mouth went agape as she looked in front of her;

There standing before her was an unscathed, and malevolent _Cinder Fall._

_Ruby was wide open, on the ground before her._

Ruby turned back to see where Yang was, her blonde sister was on the floor still recovering from the flash.

A voice broke her from her gaze and averted it back to Cinder, "You know I used to like you; naive, awkward, _foolish_." Cinder finished her sentence by stomping on Ruby's ankle, the scythe-wielder screamed out in pain as the sharp glass heel slowly punctured her skin.

"I think you need to be taught a lesson. Hm?" This time the heel was directed at the girls shoulder, stabbing in then out, leaving a bullet-like wound behind.

Ruby's pained screams, we're picked up by Weiss and Blake, the two had just finished off their respective enemies, and turned their attention to the scene at the far end of the warehouse. Then, they noticed Yang who was still down.

"You get to Yang, I'll help Ruby." Blake ordered before disappearing, leaving a shadow clone in her wake.

Without hesitation Weiss rushed over Yang who was still out cold.

"Yang! Yang! Are you alright?"

No response.

The heiress turned and headed to the end of the warehouse where Blake was desperately trying to fend off Cinders scorching attacks. Before she could reach her in time, Blake was dealt a heavy blow to the head, sending her careening off in the opposite direction.

Cinder was about to deal another hit to Ruby when her foot clashed with the shining blade of Myrtenaster.

"Oh look she's got friends, more fun for me."

Cinder back-lashed, she linked the rapier in the crook of her sharp heel, locking it in place. With unbeatable force; Cinder yanked her leg back, a loud crack followed by a pained screech sounded from Weiss, the force of the pull shattered some of the bones in her right arm.

Cinder then followed up by kicking the pained heiress back, leaving Ruby wide open again.

Without word Cinder turned away from the bleeding Ruby and to the spot where she had collided with the wall from earlier, bending down she picked up a concrete shard its shape was that of a sword.

Sauntering her way back, Cinder loomed over Ruby.

"Now... where were we? Oh now I remember."

Concrete met flesh.

A laugh.

A cry.

A cry, the pained cries of Ruby, as the shard went right through her stomach, not stopping until it hit the floor on the other side.

Yang's mind was beginning to boot up again, but that's when those cries hit her ears, her body shot up to the source of the sound.

That's when she saw it;

Cinder slowly pulling the shard out if Ruby, Cinder's disgusting smirk, her incapacitated teammates.

With a loud war cry Yang used any and all aura she had left, she attained Mach speed as she reached the scene,

"Look who's back." Cinder mocked, again.

"I'M GOING TO FUCKING MURDER YOU!" Her scream was one of vengeance and agony.

Cinder began her attacks once more, but Yang's body was overclocked to its highest point, the blonde shrugged off Cinders attacks and charged towards her. Yang's hair ignited a brilliant bright white, her eyes turning the most crimson they had ever been.

Cinder backed away but Yang kept charging, grabbing her by the throat Yang lifted the taller woman off her feet and slammed her into the ground, the force creating a large crater where Cinder now lies.

Not letting up Yang picks her up again, choking her with one hand, the blonde brought her fire infused fist back, with all the force she could muster, Yang lashed out, the punch made contact with Cinder's face.

Now, it was her turn to cry in agony.

Cinder smashed into the ground, several cracks and snaps could be heard from her body. Her skin was mostly scorched with fourth degree burns, exposing some of the bone under the flesh.

Yang walked over to the same shard used on Ruby,

Yang brought it down and did the death dealing slash.

Within seconds Yang was clamoring as she fell to her knees, she muttered apologies as she crawled over to her beloved sister.

Tenderly grasping the dying girl in her arms, Yang whispered softly;

"I'm s-s-so sorry Ruby, p-p-please don't go..." She was openly sobbing now.

Weiss and Blake had regained consciousness, their ears where filled with the agonized cries of their blonde teammate. Joining Yang at her side, Weiss put a comforting hand on her shaking shoulders.

Blake stood back as her own tears began to flow.

Ruby looked up at her sister with those big shimmering silver eyes.

"W-we... did it... right?"

"Y-y-yeah w-we, did, no more violence."

"P-peace?"

"Y-yes Ruby, Vale i-i-is safe, now c'mon we're getting y-y - you out of her-."

"No... I've lost too much blood... all... none of you have enough... aura."

Yang tried her hardest, but she was right, if any of them tried to use their aura to heal Ruby, they'd end up being the victim.

"Y-yang?"

"Yes Rubes..."

"M-mom wanted us... to protect Vale... and we just did..."

"O - of course we did."

Ruby was beginning to choke on her own blood, her skin was as white as snow, and any and all life signs were fading.

Ruby used her remaining strength and tightly grasped Yang's hand in hers.

_"Goodbye Yang..."_

_**######**_

_Back to the present._

Yang stared at the ceiling closely above her, her tears slowly sliding down her face,

She tried.

She tried to keep her 'big sister' attitude prevalent among her comrades.

She wasn't supposed to cry.

Wiping the fresh tears stains from her soft skin, Yang clambered out of her top bunk and met the floor with a soft thud. Stealthily, she snuck out of the drop room and tip toed her bare feet to the courtyard that lied right in front of their skyscraper-like dormitory.

The moon was shining a bright as ever, perfectly illuminating the courtyard she now found herself in.

Yang sat down on a bench that sat next to a large fountain, she's pleadingly looked to the midnight sky, as her mind began to think again, the tears returned.

"I - I'm sorry Mom, y-you told me to p-protect her no matter what, a-and... I failed."

Yang buried her face into her knees as she openly cried;

"I'm such a failure, to you, to Ruby, to my friends."

"No you're not." A calm, but firm voice said.

Removing her face from her knees, Yang tuned her ears to the source of the voice, there in the steel - framed glass door was her girlfriend; Weiss Schnee.

The heiress was still clad in her nightgown, looking like she just rolled out of bed.

Yang vehemently tried to dry the tears from her face with her orange top, but Weiss was smarter than that.

"What do you want?" Yang spat.

"Yang, for the past week you've been acting like nothing is wrong, but you made a promise to me that if anything was bothering you, you'd come to me about it."

"L-look Weiss I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

"Stop that!"

"Stop what?"

Weiss strutted over to Yang and joined her on the bench.

"Stop saying sorry, her death wasn't your fault!"

"But it w-was! If I had been just a li-." Yang paused as she stole a glance at Weiss, the heiress was trying to hold back her own tears as of now.

"Yang, we all can be sorry, but Ruby's death was not in vain, she, and your mother, would be proud at what you did." A single tear slipped down her face.

"It's just... I- made a promise to my Mom when I was young that I'd always protect Ruby, and... I-"

"Don't say it, you're not a failure, and will never be a failure."

Yang broke down, but not in agony, but in joy. Weiss pulled her close and locked her in a tight and embracing hug;

"God, Weiss, I love you so m-much." She sobbed.

Weiss tenderly kissed the top of Yang's head; and rubbed her back softly. It broke Weiss' heart to see Yang like this, but it was a good thing to let her emotions out.

"I love you too Yang."

Weiss noticed how cold Yang was, it utterly shocked the heiress because Yang was _never _cold.

"C'mon, how about we go back inside, you could use some sleep."

"O-okay."

_**######**_

They returned to their dorm in a moments time, as Weiss prepared herself to go back to sleep; Yang approached her.

"Hey Weiss?"

"Yes?"

"I-is it okay if I sleep with you tonight?"

Without hesitation Weiss nodded "Sure."

Weiss scooted over in her bed and allowed Yang to lay down. Yang gingerly curled up next to Weiss, reveling in her soft embrace. The heiress pulled her blonde girlfriend closer, at the sight of her, Weiss almost teared up at how frail and broken Yang had looked.

Nothing compared to whom she _had been_.

Weiss remembered how their loving relationship had begun, it was rather simple, Yang just came right out to her and told her, and she had reciprocated.

She smiled at that.

Weiss then remembered one of Yang's favorite things, something she had always begged to hear;

Her beautiful singing voice.

She then remembered Yang's favorite song;

She began to sing softly.

_**"Don't you worry about the dark, I will light up the world with the love in my heart**_

_**I will burn like the sun that will keep you safe and warm.**_

_**Like the smell of a rose on a summer's day, I will be there to take all of your fears away**_

_**With a touch of my hand, I will turn your life to;**_

_**Gold."**_

The provided soothing sensation brought the warmth back into Yang. Their auras canceled out, providing the perfect temperature for the both of them.

Oh god... it reminded Yang of her mother, when she used to sing to her before bed.

A pause filled the room as Yang was slowly lulled into the confines of sleep.

"Weiss?"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you."

Weiss pulled the blonde just a little closer.

"Anytime."

Whenever Yang needed a shoulder to cry on;

Weiss would always be there, _Always. _

**A/N Not sorry... **

**This was my first attempt at something with Angst and Hurt / Comfort, so your feedback is greatly appreciated here. Thanks for reading, and stay awesome.**


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